Local Air Force Veteran Ed Peplinski spoke at a Glen Lake Veterans Day Assembly Tuesday.
It was an honor to serve and It’s an honor to be here today. I hesitated a long time before accepting the speaker today. There are others far more deserving than me,” Ed Peplinski said humbly.
The 1975 Glen Lake graduate admits he was not in love with being a dairy farmer and certainly wasn’t cut out for university.
At 19, he joined the Air Force that became a lifelong journey over 27 years when he eventually retired as an officer.
“The best decision I made, at 19,” Peplinski said. “All those who step up and serve, take an oath, that ‘I do solemnly swear that I will support and protect the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies foreign and domestic.’” The early years of his service was during the Cold War from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s.
“One of the first examples that our military policy was winning was the fall of the Berlin War in 1989,” Peplinski said. “Rapidly, other communist regimes also collapsed ... that gave rise to 15 newly independent countries. Many of those formerly Soviet Union rule nations are now our allies.”
Peplinski is thankful for the sacrifice of veterans that is made up of men and women from many walks of life.
“What matters to us is the military becomes united to support and defend all of us,” Peplinski said. “America has already been blessed for 250 years. It’s up to us to guard that, and appreciate that. Be ever thankful and grateful for the one percent of Americans that protect all that we have. Finally, thank you all veterans. I will never forget the sacrifices you made, and I will be eternally grateful for the freedom and the light we have.”
